The Dreadnought Incident
by Yokmitati
Summary: A scifi come mystery novella based in the Transcendence universe. The main character must discover why he was killed, how he returned, and uncover the many other mysteries that await him.
1. Chapter I: Discovery

The Dreadnought Incident

Chapter I: Discovery

I slowly crept down the badly lit corridor aboard the Space Exploration Ship Dreadnought. There had been rumors of an Ares spy being on board the Dreadnought, and the guys down in the Security had finally gotten a faint picture of it in the service ducts. So, as a low-ranking Security member it was part of my job to go and check it out. Seichi, a slightly higher-ranking member of Security had joined me, just in case we did find the spy. As we walked down the boring grey corridors towards the engineering shafts, we talked about whether it was actually an Ares spy, or, more likely, just one of the guys a few decks down from the engineering base doing a practical joke. Usually, I would stay in the Security Office and do some paperwork, but at last I i've been allowed to go out on a "mission". I say mission, though the term is used loosely. It's just a way for the snobs in the upper ranks to stop us complaining about boredom and the like.

I and Seichi both stopped at the brightly-lit entrance to the dark and gloomy corridors of the engineering decks. We entered our security codes and passed through to the other side, the sliding door automatically closing behind us. I'd heard many rumors about what goes on in these dark passageways. Only a few weeks ago someone told me that one of the low-ranking newbies up on Flight Deck had been murdered here while exploring the ship, but it was hushed up by the high-ranking officers at the Admiralty. Silly rubbish. An eerie silence grew around us as we crept further and further down the dark passageway in the engineering shafts. The corridor also got shorter and narrower, until Seichi, being quite tall and muscular, had to bend his knees slightly to be able to walk without scraping his head on the hard metal ceiling.

Eventually, we reached a fork in the dark, narrow corridor. Seichi, being in command of the mission, gave the order to split up. I tried to talk him out of it, and request backup, but he stuck with the order. We kept our radios on, and for the next few minutes we talked about new 3DVideos and Anti-Grav Snooker matches. Suddenly, I heard a loud scream over the intercom and then, nothing. Stopping, I desperately tried talking to him, but no reply came. I turned around and quickly headed back towards the entrance to the service ducts. After a minute or so I reached the point at where the fork split, and continued back down towards the main part of the ship.

Suddenly, I heard a loud clicking noise behind me. I swiftly turned, only to look straight down the barrel of a large particle rifle, held by a muscular blue-skinned, 7-foot tall Ares spy. Before I had a chance to turn and run again, the genetically enhanced beast before me pulled the trigger. The blast left a chunk of my head missing, and a large scorch mark and blood stains on the wall behind me. I fell to the floor, dead.


	2. Chapter II: Cloning

Chapter II: Cloning

"Insurance Claim Processed. Have a better one!" is the first thing I heard after waking up. It was a strange, pre-recorded robotic message. I felt woozy, and after looking around for a few minutes, I gathered where I was. It was the cloning facility I had visited a few years ago. Suddenly, I realized I still have my memories since before I was shot. Strange...that's not meant to happen. They take a sample of your DNA, for a price. When the original you dies, they clone the DNA sample and make you you again. This shouldn't give you the memories since after you were cloned... As I gathered my strength over the next few minutes, I observed the room around my bed. On the wall to my left there was a large door, with a sign on the other side that was illegible. Next to the door there was a small plaque saying "Cloning Insurance Facility Gamma - Main Ward: Room 73". In front of me was a large clear-doored wardrobe filled with my clothes and other posessions. On my right was a large window, which the size of was similar to that of my bed. Also on my right was a small table with a petite vase of flowers, and, weighted down by the vase, a newspaper dated from yesterday. I slid the newspaper from under the vase, only to see the main headline: "SES Dreadnought Destroyed!", with a picture of an exploding ship, which I assumed was the Dreadnought. As I read through the story, I realized I was the only "survivor", as in, I know what probably happened. At this point, a nurse came in and saw me reading the story, and said "You know, the original you served on that SES."

Replying that I already knew, she said that was not possible, and explained all of the procedures to me as if I was a five-year old. After explaining all of this, she asked how I was feeling and whether I wanted anything. I replied to these truthfully, and I asked where I could get a bite to eat. She replied, once again talking to me as if I was five, and then left the room. Once she was gone, I stood up and walked over to the large window. Outside it was a beautiful day, the suns were shining, and a gentle breeze was wafting through the closed window. They must have put in those new windows...pretty much anything can go through them, except organic matter, so you couldn't fall out. Down below he could see what looked like a 20th-century hotel entrance, with a large fluttering flag featuring the company's logo. The building outside, from what I could see, was in the shape of a crescent moon, and leading out from the main entrance were hovering rows of various planted greenery. By counting the windows on the other side of the building, it seemed I was about 10-20 floors up. I moved away from the window, and left the room.

Outside of Room 73 there were two well-lit white corridors, with one in front of me and another to my left. I could see the end of the one in front of me, and when I looked down the corridor on my left it ended in a lift a few metres away. Down the corridor in front of me I could see many doors, each a few metres apart. As I paced forwards, I glanced into the rooms to side. All the rooms to the sides of me seemed to be completely empty and devoid of any habitation. Following the nurse's instructions, at the end of the corridor I took a right. I saw another long corridor, with similar paintings and doors. The difference was, at the end of this corridor there was a lift. I walked down the corridor, and, still following the nurse's instructions, watched the doors open, and entered the lift.

Inside the spacious lift, there was a small panel of buttons just in front of me, and a security camera in the top corner on my right. As the nurse had said, I pressed the button for floor 4, turned to face the door, and waited for the lift to go down. Once it did, I kept waiting. The annoying elevator music seemed never-ending, and made the journey feel twice as long as it actually was. I'd always hated elevator music. After the lift had stopped, an electronic voice similar to what i'd heard when I woke up said "Welcome to Floor 4". I stepped out of the lift, and entered a large L-shaped room filled with various chairs, tables and plants, much like a waiting room at a dentists or a doctor's surgery. There was no-one in the room besides me, and the place had an eerie silence. Suddenly, a door on my left opened, and a tall man in a lab coat entered the room. The badge on his coat said "Doctor G. Nibrune" in large red letters. He walked across the carpeted room and sat down on a large blue chair. In a deep, gruff voice he asked me to sit down next to him.

After talking to him for a while, it seemed he was a researcher at the company that owned and ran this building and he wanted me to fill out a small questionnaire. He gave me a red pen to write with, and I filled out the inquisitive form. After I had, he thanked me and then left the room. I continued following the nurse's directions through various corridors and passageways, until I reached a small metal food station that was built into the wall. They really should've fitted more of these in the building. A robotic voice told me what was being served today, and what the special was. I chose the special, which happened to be a small lump of chicken with some rather inedible-looking sauce covered over it. I collected the fork that came with it, and wondered why it didn't also come with a knife for the chicken. When I tried eating it, it was about as hard as granite, and when I tried taking a bite out of it without cutting it, I just hurt my jaw. Eventually, after scraping and stabbing with my fork, I managed to cut it into managable pieces. The chicken tasted more like rubber than anything else, and gave off a heavy stench of vinegar. Feeling dissatisfied, I headed back to my room.


	3. Chapter III: Exploration

Chapter III: Exploration

The next day, after I had woken up, the nurse returned again. She asked how I was feeling and wether I needed anything, the same as yesterday. After she had left, I dressed into my Pilot's uniform that had been hanging in the wardrobe, and journeyed through the long corridors to the food dispenser. Fearing the same quality of meal that I had yesterday, I chose the meat and vegetable soup instead of the special. What came out looked nothing like soup, but more of a slimy blue liquid with bits of red somethings in it, which I presumed were meat. I ate this rather quickly, and then went to the room where I had met the researcher the previous day. I sat down in the same seat as before, and thought about the recent happenings. I'd had time to let it sink in that I still had my memories. Now that I think about it, it is _very_ impossible for me to have my memories. As I wondered about this, I slowly fell asleep in the chair.

When I awoke, I found myself in the same chair I had fallen asleep in. The unusual thing was, the chair was not in the same place that it was before. It was my room, Room 73. I pondered on why this had happened, but dismissed it. I'd probably woken up before and just forgotten about it. But that doesn't explain the chair... I stood up, and walked over to the window. The view outside was excellent, just like yesterday. I decided to go outside and view the scenery. I especially liked the look of one of the hovering plant bushes, with bright red and blue plants. I took my small laser pistol from the wardrobe, and hid it under my belt, just for safety. This place creeped me out a little, and I wanted to know I had at least some protection. I headed down the corridor to the lift, and pressed the "Floor 1" button on the panel. As the lift went down, the annoying elevator music started again. By now it seemed I was used to it, as it did not annoy me nearly so much as it had yesterday.

Once the lift stopped,. the now-familiar electronic voice spoke "Welcome to Floor 1", and the door opened. I stepped into a large room with some chairs and a reception desk in it. At the desk was a short woman typing information into a screen floating in front of her. I approached her, and asked her if I was allowed to leave. She replied "Of course. Why wouldn't you?", and then went back to her typing. I asked her for a map, and several times she said "Just a minute...". Eventually she gave me map, which was on a small portable screen, and asked for it back once i'd finished with it.

As I approached the large glass and wood entrance, I saw a large anti-grav shuttle land outside of the building, close to the flagpole. A small group of people who looked similar to high-ranking military officers stepped out, followed by an entourage of business-ey looking people. They marched towards the entrance, pointing at me, and gesturing for me to come to them. As I was about to go through the main entrance, the receptionist said "I wouldn't go out there if I were you. They look pretty angry." And so they were. As they got closer to the building, I could see faces of anger and there were also some smirks among the entourage. I slowly walked backwards towards the lift, then I turned and ran. The lift opened, and I sped inside, pressing the "Floor 17" button. As the lift was going up, I could hear shouts of anger and frustration down below. Once the lift reached Floor 17, I ignored the welcome message and ran out of the lift once the doors were open. I ran down the corridor, turned left and ran down there too, into my room. Once there I hid round the corner, watching out for anyone coming around the corner from the lift. I waited for a few minutes, and no-one came. A while later, I began to relax and I looked around for the blue chair that had materialised in this room, along with me. It was gone... As the bed was in plain view of sight from around the corner along the corridor, I decided to just sit on the floor to the side of the door. I took a book from the clear wardrobe, and began to read. It was a book about dead starship captains. I noticed that Captain Malakai wasn't in it. He was the captain aboard the Dreadnought. I had met him once, when he came to "inspect the security offices", though later I found out he just got lost on his way to the bathroom, and, since he had been on the ship longer than anyone, he didn't want to look like an idiot.

Suddenly, I heard a pinging sound from down the corridor. It was the sound of a lift opening. I ran outside of my room, and turned to the lift on my left. The door opened automatically, and I sped inside. The inside of this lift was very similar, except here there was no security camera. I pressed the button for Floor 1, and waited for the lift to go down. It didn't. It went up.


	4. Chapter IV: Escaping

Chapter IV: Escape

The ascending lift quickly reached it's destination. Once it stopped, the doors opened and the electronic voice said "Welcome to Floor 24, Sir". I stepped out into a badly lit dark grey corridor with a bright light at the end. I walked down the corridor, noticing several electronic panels along the way. When I reached the end of the corridor, I realized it was actually a small tunnel leading from the lift to the roof of the builiding. I stepped out from the tunnel, and saw the suns above me burning brightly. There were also some clouds in the sky, and there were a few anti-grav shuttles and starfighters whizzing high above me. It now occured to me that I had never seen behind the building I had been in for the past few days. A beautiful city of skyscrapers and bridges was to the back of the Cloning Facility, and, on the right, was a huge, sparkling ocean.

On my left, I saw a small Spacefighter shuttle. It was open, and, by the look of it, powered up and ready to fly. I ran up to the ship, and peered round the side into the open door. There was no-one in there. I stuck my head in further, and saw the pilot's controls. Suddenly, a noise from behind me told me that whoever I had heard from my room was following me. I ran into the ship, closed the door, and locked it. Since it was started and ready to go, I sat in the pilot's seat and held the controls. I heard banging on the door, so I pressed the release button for the landing grips, and I went. I'd had some pilot's training in the VR rooms onboard the Dreadnought, but the real thing was much more different. I pointed the ship up towards the sky, and into space. It was designed for space battles, after all, so it must by flyable in a vacuum.

As I zoomed upwards, a small alarm sounded, warning me of an incoming ship. I saw a large green beam speed past me, probably from a mounted particle cannon. I went into dodging maneuvers, watching more particle blasts fly past. As I continued dodging, I had a look at where a good destination would be. I looked at the map I had been given by the receptionist. By now I was nearly out of the planet's atmosphere. After studying the map, I learned that the planet's name was Obsidan, and it was in a star system near to where the SES Dreadnought had been destroyed. On the map, I saw a station in low orbit around Obsidan, and I decided to head to there, and hopefully refuel. I noticed that the particle blasts had now stopped. They must have given up. I checked the UltraDar just in case, and it was clean. Nothing out here except me, and that station. And, of course, Obsidan.

I put the spacefighter onto automatic, and began to study the controls more thoroughly. I noticed that the ship was equipped with high-quality armor and shielding, and two weapon systems - a heavy ion cannon, and a large high-tech missile launcher. All off the other systems, including the reactor, were very high-tech. It must have been owned by someone rich. While I was examining the interior of the ship I came across the ship's name - the Kaze. In an old earth language it means "Wind". While I was going through the inventory in the cargo bays, an alarm sounded. I had arrived at the station. I contacted them and requested docking clearance. It was granted, and the automatic systems aboard the Kaze guiding itself into the docking bays of the enormous station, which happened to be called Mizu, which, in the same old earth language, meant "Water".

Once the docking procedure had finished, I exited the ship into a cavernous grey hangar filled with many strangely shaped ships. A small hovering robot asked what my business here was, and took me to the café once I said I was hungry. I followed the robot towards the café, and seeing many unusual aliens along the way. I also saw some shops, many of which were like newsagents on my home planet. We also passed a few bars, and eventually we reached the café.

When I entered, the small hovering robot whizzed away, probably to help someone else out. A human waitress came up to me, and asked what i'd like. I asked for some coffee, and a plate of chips. A few minutes later she came waddling up to the table and laid down the tray. The coffee was warm and refreshing, and the chips were the best food i'd had in days. They weren't hard, or slimy. After finishing the plate of chips, I ordered another two plates. I ate all of those chips as well, and drank another cup of coffee. I silently left without paying, as I had no money that I knew of, and creeped back to the Kaze, stopping en-route to steal some food, drink and fuel from one of the newsagents. Being an ex-Member of Security aboard the Dreadnought taught me some handy tricks for getting past security systems. I entered the Kaze, and started the undocking process. The automatic guidance systems undocked me and moved me a safe distance from the Mizu, until switching over to manual controls.


	5. Chapter V: Travelling

Chapter V: Travelling around

I had been in high orbit around Obsidan for a few days now, eating and drinking the supplies I had stolen from the Mizu station. I was getting bored now, and rather lonely as I hadn't talked to anyone that isn't a robot for a while. I decided to head to a nearby planet, which, according to the star maps, was called Scroma. When I checked the database, it said Scroma was a windy though industrious planet I gave the Kaze's guidance systems the coordinates and went to sleep.

A few hours later, a loud alarm awoke me. When I investigated, I found that someone was hailing me. I accepted the hail, and I recieved a message: "This is the Space BattleShip Centurion. You are wanted in connection with the destruction of the SES Dreadnought. If you hand yourself over now, we promise to be kind". We discussed for the next few minutes about what had happened to the Dreadnought. When I told him about me still having my memories, and he was intrigued. Eventually, he persuaded me to dock with the SBS Centurion. While heading towards the Centurion, I was awed at the size of it compared to the Kaze. The Kaze was about the size of a small house; the Centurion, much like the Dreadnought, was closer to the size of a large city.

When I arrived on the Centurion's spacious docking bays I was welcomed by a small squadron of armed guards, who said they were taking me up to the bridge. The guards surrounded me and led me to the bridge, which was just a few decks up. Many of the corridors were a similar shape and size to the Dreadnought, as they were made as sister ships. The guards and I walked through numerous corridors and up many flights of steps until, finally, we reached the bridge of the Centurion.

When I entered the bridge, I was amazed by the luxurious furnishings and paintings. It looked more like a 22nd-century living room than the bridge of a powerful battleship. Here and there were high-ranking bridge crew and many floating screens were whizzing here and there between them, and some people were typing onto them, much like the receptionist in the building on Obsidan. The Captain, who, apparently, was who was talking to me earlier. He was a tall, well-built man, around 6 foot and was probably a good soldier. He talked to me in a deep, gruff voice, and this conversation continued for several minutes. Eventually, after I had finished telling him my story, he allowed me to keep the Kaze temporarily, and even gave me some supplies and money to get me on my way. He said we would meet again, and that I could stay on the Centurion for a while if I wanted. I thanked him for his kind gesture, but declined. I was wanting to get to Scroma quite badly. I had a never-ending itch to explore now, and my first goal was to visit every planet in this system.

Some of the armed guards stayed on the bridge, and the others escorted me back to the Kaze. One of them handed me their gun, which happened to be a new and powerful kind of particle rifle. When we reached the docking bays, I thanked them for their help and entered the Kaze, which, strangely, was rather shiny. They must have cleaned it for me. That was kind of them. When I checked the inventory, I could indeed see more fuel and supplies for the journey ahead.

I undocked the Kaze from the Centurion, and told the guidance systems aboard the Kaze to once again set a course for Scroma. It appeared the engineers aboard the Centurion had also installed a new and more powerful reactor on the Kaze. After some searching, I also found a secret tracking device installed, which was understandable. As my ship veered towards Scroma, I watched the huge Transpace Jumpdrive aboard he Centurion activate. A large purple light enveloped the Centurion, and it vanished, probably reappearing at Obsidan. I fell asleep in the pilot's chair.

Several hours later, while I was nearing the planet of Scroma, a loud alarm awoke me. I witnessed a large purple light appear out of nowhere. A large orange ship zoomed from the light, and began firing various bombs and missiles towards Scroma. I activated the external cameras on the Kaze so as to have proof about what had happened. Turning over to manual controls, I fired all missiles I had available to me, and I also fired many shots from the ion cannon, but none of these could barely harm the deadly orange ship. A few minutes after this planetary bombardment, the orange ship became enveloped in a bright purple light, and vanished.


	6. Chapter VI: Descent into Chaos

Chapter VI: Descending into chaos

I pointed the Kaze in the direction of where the orange ship had been firing. From above, it appeared to be a coastal region on the largest continent on this side of the planet. As the Kaze zoomed through Scroma's atmosphere, the temperature of the shields outside increased rapidly, but for this high-tech shielding it was nothing. The view from out of the cockpit window was amazing. As I got closer to the continent, which, after checking on the starmaps, was called Gidantii, I could see beautifully-shaped clouds and, on the ground, there were vast expanses of rainforest and desert. Getting closer to where the mysterious orange ship had fired, I could see a large city, ablaze with a spectrum of red and orange. I witnessed a few emergency medical ships race by, and decided to slow the Kaze slightly as to cause as little disruption to the rescue operations going on below me. I slowed the Kaze to a full stop, and watched everything below me through the screen in the cockpit. After a few minutes, I slowly descended down towards the chaos and flames underneath me.

As I prepared the Kaze for landing, outside I saw various-coloured flames leaping out of windows in many of the black towering buildings above, below and around me. The computer aboard the Kaze found the safest place to land , and the automatic systems took control of the maneuvering and steering. Slowly going past a small square-shaped area with trees of varying sizes, I could just about see groups of people huddling together. Suddenly, I heard an almighty crash and the ship's sensors started bleeping at me. Observing the area around me through a handheld holographic tactical device, I found that several buildings roughly a mile away had collapsed. The Kaze slowed, and came to a full stop. The automatic systems slowly took the ship down, and landed with a slight jolt.

The door behind and to the left of me opened. I got out of the pilot's chair, put a jacket hanging near the door on, and stepped outside.


End file.
